When I was a kid my Dad took out a shelter belt along the driveway of Maples. They were a pain in the winter drifting in with snow. He pushed them all up in piles and took diesel fuel and a match and lit them up. Years later I thought that would have made an amazing floor, even if it would have been a gargantuan undertaking.
I wouldn't worry too much about missing the opportunity. Most of the time shelter belt maples are junk soft maple.
My uncle had a cabinet shop with all the tools needed for milling etc. One critical step was drying the wood before doing anything. He had an old 40 X 60 cattle shed stacked with wood drying on racks. The shed was full with rough cut and next to the shed was a monster storage area for logs. He didn't use kiln drying so the process took years. In the end there was also a fair amount of loss.
I used to hang out around that shop during summers and helped with the rough cut and milling. It takes quite a few steps to get from a log to finished product. I did countless hours on a home made belt sander just cleaning up after planing. The sander was pretty impressive in those days with a 10" W by roughly 7-8' belt. The hand held pressure plate was maybe 10 X 20 inches so it covered a lot of surface. It was still a time consuming process. It looks like there are newer wide belt machines that are basically automated, but wow they're expensive.
Flooring also needs a lot of tongue and groove work. That's a crucial step as well. Sloppy edges will bite you down the road.
I guess the lesson I learned was the process needed patience
and a lot of tools.
Funny thing, I'd still give it a shot with the right tools and time. There is a level of satisfaction from making wood chips and then using the end product every day.
